The flower of Konoha
by grimmjow Kurosaki Drake
Summary: Sasuke tells little Sarada a bed time story, the story of the flower of Konoha.
1. Chapter 1

**Cross posted in Tumblr.**  
**English is not my mother language, sorry.**

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"Papa. Would you tell me a story?" Asks little Sarada as she melts under the tick covers of her bed.

"A story. Huh?" muses Sasuke inspecting his daughter little library of children's books, his fingers caressing fondly the books he knows, are Sakura's own well-loved childhood stories. "Which one would you like me to read for you?"

"No!" Exclaims the girl to his father surprise. "I want papa to tell me a story!" she clarifies then, just a little flustered.

Sasuke smiles amused as he lies besides his daughter on the bed, he allows Sarada to cuddle at his side as he thinks it over "How about papa tells you his favorite story?"

That spikes Sarada's interest immediately. Oh, how his baby yearns to be close to him. "Papa's favourite?" she asks, all flushed cheeks and sparkling dark eyes. The same as his mother's; always filled with curiosity and a certain kind of intelligence that Sasuke has never fully understood, but loves anyway.

"Yes," he says as he rests his cheek on the top of his daughter head. "The story of the flower of Konoha."

Sarada, squeals a little, she doesn't know the story, can't even imagine of what her father is talking again. But the fondness in Sasuke's voice is enough for her to keep rapt attention.

"As it usually happens" starts the Shinobi, "in the fields of Konoha grew a little bud. She was pink and green and she was so very fragile, that some people hated her and hurt her for it."

"Why, papa?" Asks Sarada mystified by the concept, still too young to know about hate and prejudice.

"Because some people think that flowers should have boring colors," he says, his voice tight. "Like yellow and brown and red."

"I love pink flowers," declares she, then. "Like mama flowers!"

"Papa loves mama flowers too."

"Because papa loves mama?" asks the girl.

"Because papa loves mama very much." Concedes the black haired man with an uncharacteristic smile gracing his aristocratic features.

"Anyway. The flower was sad and lonely. So, little by little, she was withering away on that sadness." He narrates to his despaired daughter. "But there was a girl, a very smart girl, who saw the flower and declared her beautiful. In the girl's care, with the girl's friendship, the flower grew. Proud, big and just as she should always has been." He says, with an air of finality.

"The end?" Asks Sarada, disappointed.

"Sadly no," denies Sasuke. "One day the flower left the girl, because they both fell in love with a dumb boy."

"Boys are dumb," mimics the younger Uchiha, just as his father taught her. Good girl.

"The flower fell in the care of two dumb boys and one sad man." He starts. "She fancied herself lucky because she was with the boy she loved. But the boy didn't know how to love, so he didn't know what to do with the precious gift the flower was offering him." Sasuke's face twists in a grimace at this and yet carries on with the story.

"But the other two weren't much better. The other boy, the courageous one, was in love with the flower and so he didn't want to share her with anyone else. The man on the other hand, wanted the flower to always be beautiful and unperturbed, so he plucked her thorns and didn't let her grow as she should, because she was cute, all little and fragile. The boys were fine with this, because they believed they would always be there to protect her."

"But they didn't protect her. Did they?" Sighs Sarada, already as smart as her mother.

"The man left the flower to the boys, because they both loved her and so, he assumed, they would take good care of her." He recalls, "but the dumb boy grew dark, and because he tought that taking care of the flower was making him weak. He left."

"That's stupid" declares the girl. "We become strong because we have people to protect. Like papa and mama, and uncle Naruto, too."

"And because of this, the courageous boy, grew big and strong, curling himself around the flower like a shield. But the flower was sad, she wanted her dumb boy back, and so, because the courageous boy loved her very much, he too, left her alone. To get stronger and bring the dumb boy back, for the flower, he promised, it was a promise of a lifetime."

"And?" Urges Sarada.

"What?" Asks Sasuke, amused.

"Did he? Did he bring him back?"

"That is a story for another night, peanut." Teases the Uchiha patriarch, poking his daughter's forehead with a finger. "Maybe next time, now go to sleep."

Sarada pouts, red and irritated. But she allows Sasuke to kiss her head goodnight anyway.

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**Thanks for reading and reviews are always welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The second and last chapter of the flower of Konoha.**  
**English is not my mother language but I hope you like this anyway. :)**

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"And did he, papa? Did he?" Urges Sarada the next night as Sasuke tucks her under the covers and hands her a big, fluffy, and pink stuffed bunny so she can cuddle it in her sleep.

This is the third night that Sakura hasn't been able to come to sleep at home because of the night shift, and the absence is taking a toll on his daughter just as much as himself. So Sasuke bought Sarada a bunny that reminded him of his wife, to pass on the lonely nights without the warmth and light of the household.

"What are you talking about, little peanut? " Asks Sasuke with an indulgent smile.

"Did the courageous boy bring the dumb boy back?" She persists, hopping off the covers in an unusual display of excitement that Sasuke has never witnessed. "He has to!"

"Well before that he went away to train long and hard. Do you want to know what happened to the flower in that time?" he says, trying and failing to get Sarada back under the bed.

"Was she lonely?"

Sarada has been feeling lonely herself. She loves her papa, but her mama has always been the cheerful, colorful one in the house. She misses that splash of colour and she knows her papa misses it too.

"She was, because the sad man left her too. As he didn't want to remember the boys every time he saw the flower, after all. The dumb boy was his biggest failure."

"And what happened to the flower!?" Urges the Uchiha heir, strangling the stuffed bunny in a tight grip.

"An old woman took care of her, she was a healer and a fighter who believed flowers should be beautiful and deadly at the same time. She found out the flower had latent curative properties, but also that her thorns were poisonous. So, as the flower grew under the old woman's care and without the sad man there to pluck her. The flower grew beautiful and big, but full of thorns and bushes to shield her and protect her from any outside pain."

"Was that a bad thing, papa?" inquires Sarada.

Sasuke hums deep in thought, he's always had ambivalent feelings about his wife's growth as shinobi, he loves her as the strong, confident woman that she ended up being. But still regrets the circumstances that forced her to become so strong.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing." he says finally, "it's just a shame that she had to grow alone. No one should be forced to grow alone and shielded from the world."

"But she had the old woman, right?" Thankfully.

"Yes, and with time she had the smart girl back again, after a few years the courageous boy came back, too."

"But not the dumb boy?" The girl looks disappointed, obviously anticipating his answer.

"Not the dumb boy," concedes her father, caressing the fluffy furr of the stuffed bunny in her arms. "She saw him a few times in passing, and everytime they saw each other, she and the courageous boy tried to get him back tirelessly, but the dumb boy was stubborn and stupid."

He tucks Sarada back into bed and slips under the covers with her. Maybe their need for the flower of the house making both him and his little princess warrior more clingy than usual.

"But they shouldn't leave him alone!" Complains Sarada.

"The didn't," this part he wants to avoid. The way they learned to appreciate other people as the time passed, even when during their childhood they didn't have anyone else. "The dumb boy found other people to take care of and who could help him with his revenge."

"But no other flower?" Asks Sarada worried.

"No other flowers, he could never see other flowers the way he saw his pink blossom." Confesses Sasuke, blushing faintly. "But the flower and her boy found an odd boy to fill the void he left behind."

A whimper scapes the dark haired girl lips. "The end?"

"No, peanut, they eventually found each other, as they were in opposites sides on a senseless war. The dumb boy was so deep in the darkness of his heart that not her; who always managed to warm his soul with the sun of her spring; nor the courageous boy who was like a brother to him, could save him." His hand tenses as he idly strokes his daughter's petite slender neck. "He couldn't fathom to fight against her, or even alongside her eventually. Flowers don't belong in war or so he thought. But as the flower proved herself time and time again, his resolve to be alone started to waver."

"So he came back!?" screams Sarada. Her excitement clearly shown on her sparkling black eyes.

"The courageous boy had to beat some sense into him first." Smiles Sasuke.

"But then he came back, right?" Urges the little stubborn devil.

"He wasn't any good to the flower at the time. So he left in a journey to attorn his sins and to become a man who could be deserving of her love."

His need to explain this part is visceral. Sasuke has always regretted all the time he's lost with her, but he can't regret the journey he did to deserve her.

"And then?"

"And then one day he came back and took her with him." He smirks.

"Really?" She's excited, he can't tell. In the way her voice cracks and her face blushes a deep red.

Sasuke nods "because he loved the flower and because the flower deserved to finally get what she always wanted. He took the flower and he never let her go."

"I really liked the story, papa" says Sarada holding back a yawn.

"Then maybe you could ask your mama for her favourite story the next time."

He eventually leaves his little girl to sleep and goes to his room. Just to find his wife sleeping on their bed. She's hugging the covers against her body, sighing silently with every breath. The sight of her make him feel warm and content.

With a smile, Sasuke changes into an old sweatshirt and his boxers, so he can lay behind his wife on the bed in a big spoon position.

"Sasuke-kun?" Asks Sakura half asleep when he slips his arms around her petite waist.

"Hush, my flower" Murmures Sasuke, kissing her neck with uncharacteristic affection. "Go to sleep."

Sakura yawns, barely aware of his actions. "love you." She purrs before falling again into a deep slumber.

"Love you too, Sakura" He smiles, hiding his nose on her hair to finally sleep.

He dreams of pink flowers.

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**_Well! This little fic is over! I hope you liked it and Reviews are always welcome 💕! _**


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